"...this oral history has a freshness and immediacy that kept me turning the pages." ~ Kate M.

It was the year that Cold War protagonists sought a truce, the race to space stepped up a gear, feminism and civil rights flexed their political muscles, and President John F. Kennedy's assassination numbed the world. But as the front pages of history were being printed, the scoop of the century slipped by unnoticed. On January 13, 1963, two then-largely unknown musical acts made their first appearances on nationwide television in Britain. Neither the Beatles nor Bob Dylan could have known it at the time, but through some strange alchemy the anthems of social upheaval were being heard by a mass audience--and these artists were the catalyst. Within the year, their voices were captivating millions of ears around the world. The Beatles had become the poster boys of a revolution that still influences us to this day, and Dylan its prophet.

In short, 1963 saw the birth of a global demographic power shift. Within that one year, youth, for the first time in history, had become a commercial and cultural force that commanded the attention of government and religion and exercised the power to shape society.

1963: The Year of the Revolution is the first book to recount the kinetic story of the liberation of youth through music, fashion, and the arts--and in the voices of those who changed the world so radically, from Keith Richards to Eric Clapton, Mary Quant to Vidal Sassoon, Graham Nash to Peter Frampton, Alan Parker to Gay Talese, Stevie Nicks to Norma Kamali, and many more. It is an oral history that records, documentary-style, the incredible roller-coaster ride of that year, in which a group of otherwise obscure teenagers would become global superstars. It serves not only as a fast-paced, historical eyewitness account but as an inspiration to anyone in search of a passion, an identity, and a dream.

Kate M.says:
"I’m a boomer—and even I’m bored by boomer nostalgia. But this oral history has a freshness and immediacy that kept me turning the pages. It’s filled with eyewitness accounts of a single pivotal year by an array of artists, musicians, designers and writers who went on to define a generation: Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Stevie Nicks, Andrew Loog Oldham, Dave Clark, Mary Quant, Jackie Collins, Gay Talese, Neil Sedaka, Norma Kamali, Pattie Boyd, Carly Simon, Jeff Lynne… to list a handful. Even the several dozen photographs felt fresh, coming from the collection of British photographer Terry O'Neill, and  many appearing for the first time."